Catalog
50 Patacas
| Issuer | Banco Nacional Ultramarino |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Size | 160 x 95 mm |
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| Reverse description | Printed in deep brownish-red on cream paper in a vertical format, the reverse carries Chinese text arranged in columns. A central guilloche medallion bears the denomination in Chinese characters, flanked by ornamental borders. At top, the place name 澳門 (Macau) is inscribed, with the bank name and authority text in vertical columns. The denomination 伍拾圓 (50 dollars/patacas) appears within the central rosette. |
| Reverse lettering | 澳門 大西洋國海外匯理銀行 憑票內省給通流幣省 伍拾 澳幣伍拾圓 |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino, a Portuguese overseas bank chartered in 1864, maintained note-issuing authority in Macau throughout the colonial period. By 1944, wartime conditions had made the usual recourse to European printers impossible — Portuguese Macau was surrounded by Japanese-occupied territory, and supply lines to Lisbon were effectively severed. Local production became the only viable option.
Printing by Um Chon & Cia in Macau itself is the defining fact of this issue. The quality of locally produced wartime notes rarely matched what Bradbury Wilkinson or the Portuguese state press could deliver, and this series is no exception — registration inconsistencies are common on surviving examples.